Dalton City Council approves longer lease possibility for city properties

Charles Oliver, The Daily Citizen, Dalton, Ga.
·2 min read

May 17—The Dalton City Council voted 3-0 Monday on a measure officials said could attract more investment to the Dalton Municipal Airport.

Council member Tyree Goodlett was absent, and Mayor David Pennington typically votes only when there is a tie.

The vote changes the city charter to increase the number of years the city can lease city property to 35 years from five years. Officials said building new hangars and other structures at the airport is expensive, and no one is willing to make that sort of investment if they can lease the property underneath the structure for only five years.

While the change is targeted at the airport, city officials have also indicated they might be interested in increasing the length of the leases on:

—The former Emery Street School, at 110 Emery St., now occupied by the Emery Center, an African American heritage and multicultural center.

—The former city hall at the corner of King Street and Pentz Street, currently the office of Engineered Floors founder Bob Shaw.

—The former fire station at 210 N. Pentz St., now the home of the Dalton Little Theatre.

—The former post office at 100 S. Hamilton St., now home to the Carpet and Rug Institute and the Greater Dalton Chamber of Commerce.

The council also held the first reading of a measure that would allow some retirees to come back and work part time for the city without having their pension benefits halted.

Under the city's current pension plan rules, if retirees come back to work for the city their pension benefits have to be suspended until they leave city employ again.

In the council's May 2 meeting, City Administrator Andrew Parker said finding and keeping employees with a commercial driver's license (CDL) has been a particular problem and it will only get worse with new, more extensive training requirements to obtain a CDL.

Those who already have a CDL have been exempted from the new requirements. Parker said that means retirees who have a CDL can step into roles without those requirements.

Retirees would be limited to 16 hours each week.

If they go above that, their pension would be frozen.

Council members are expected to approve the measure at their Monday, June 6, meeting.

The council members approved a $37,303.97 contract with Grade 1 Underground of Dalton to install a fire hydrant at Dalton Municipal Airport. Ninety percent of the cost of the project will be funded by a federal grant. The city's share will be $3,730.40.